


A Fateful Encounter

by IvanaFlynn



Series: Growing Up Gerudo [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, baby!Link, father!Ganon, growing au gerudo au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 00:44:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6307084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvanaFlynn/pseuds/IvanaFlynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ganon found a little something that would change his life forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the beginning. The start of it all. This is the Growing up Gerudo AU.

The desert wind roared loudly in his ears, kicking up sand into his eyes. Being royalty in the Gerudo tribe didn’t mean squat when it came to paroling the boarders. If it was your turn, you do it, no matter the weather. Ganon squinted towards the horizon, and hand unsuccessfully shielding his eyes. His scarf around his face did little to stop the sand from entering his nose and mouth, but at least he could breath.

  
A sigh escaped his lips. “Nothing’s here. Maybe I can go back now?” He turned around to head back to the valley and out of the sandstorm, but then he heard something he thought he would never hear so far out in the desert: a baby’s whine.

  
Ganon jerked back around towards the noise. He had to be hearing thing, the heat playing with his mind. There was no way that a child survive out here in the desert, much less in a sandstorm. But as he slowing made is way to the sound, he saw a rock, and in that rock was a concave in which the storm did not reach. There, in the shadow, was a squirming, crying baby wrapped in a swaddle of cloth. The Gerudo glanced around trying to find any clue as to where its parents might be, but the sand blowing around him obscured his vision too much to see anything. Looking back down to the baby, he thought of his next move. He couldn’t leave this poor child out here to die, but he absolutely could not bring it with him back to the valley. The tribe would not take that very well.

  
The next thing Ganon knew, he was walking back to the gate with a new burden in his arms. He was hunched over, protecting his package from the fierce winds, his braided hair attacking his face. When the Gerudo at the gate tried to question him, he just waved her off, continuing to his hut without giving anyone a second glance. Once home, he placed the baby on his bed and tied his door shut. There could be no interruptions because if anyone found out about this, who knew what would happen.

  
After he was done, his arms fell to his sides. His hand raked through his hair, his breath shaky. “What the hell am I doing?” He looked back to the swaddle, the baby’s sleeping face being the only thing visible. It was clearly a Hylian, its pale skin and pointed ears giving that away. But it was weird. The moment he picked it up in the desert, it stopped crying, as if it felt safe in his arms. Why? It would have been so easy to just crush the little thing, put it out of its misery, like any other Gerudo would do. Probably better for it too, because as soon as the rest of the tribe found out about it, it would be thrown out again, left to die a slow and painful death. He lifted his hands, hovering them above the baby’s neck. It would be easy. Just squeeze and snap. It’ll be quick, painless. Better than the alternative. Just… just…

  
Ganon sighed and dropped his hands. He couldn’t do it. The baby had done nothing wrong.

  
Suddenly, it started crying, loudly. The Gerudo prince panicked, hoping no one was around to hear this. “ _Who am I kidding_ ,” he thought. “ _You could hear this from all the way across Hyrule!_ ” He tried shushing the baby, picking it up and rocking it. Nothing. It still cried. Ganon cried, pleaded to the baby to be quiet. Why was this happening? What did it want? “Wait. Desert. Water.” That’s it! Who knew how long it was out there! It must be so thirsty!

  
Ganon shuffled around, trying to get to the basin of water next to his vanity with the bundle in his hands. It probably would have been easier to put the baby down, but his mind was on trying to calm the loud crying machine down. After a few spills, he got a small dish of water up to the baby’s mouth and slowly tipped it back, letting the little thing drink up the revitalizing liquid.

  
As soon as it touched the child’s lips, it quieted down, its eyes slowly opening. Once the dish was empty, Ganon placed it on the counter then looked down at the baby. It looked up at the Gerudo with its big, trusting, blue eyes. Ganon cocked his head to the side. The baby followed the movement, making Ganon grin. It was so cute, a little baby in his arms, so trusting, so… Without thinking, he ran his hand through the child’s blond hair, causing it to laugh, its lips pulled back in a toothless smile. Ganon’s eyes widened at that. This child, this Hylian child, was happy. He made the child happy. Blue eyes smile at him as the baby kicked and squirmed, a jovial laugh resounding through his hut. Eventually, Ganon joined the child, lifting it up above his head and laughed along.

  
“Sir, is everything alright in there?” The moment was cut off by a sudden voice outside the curtain of his hut.

  
Ganon brought the baby down, holding on to it as tight as possible without suffocating it. “Uh, yeah! Everything’s fine!”

  
“Are you sure? I heard some screaming. Can I come in?”

  
The Gerudo prince panicked. If he said no, the Gerudo would have been suspicious. He couldn’t have that. But he also couldn’t have her coming in and discovering the Hylian baby. “Uh, yeah! Hold on.” He glanced around his hut frantically. If he could just find a safe place to hide it…

  
The Gerudo entered. She looked around, trying to find any threat to her prince, but all she found was said prince standing in the middle of the room, hands behind his back, a nervous smile planted on his face.

  
“See?” Ganon said. “I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.”

  
She regarded him with a skeptical eye. If she noticed the nervous twitching or the sweat, she didn’t say anything about it. “Well, if anything does happen,” she put emphasis on the “does”, “let me know.” And with that, she left.

  
Ganon let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Once she was gone, he looked over to the semi-open drawer, a piece of cloth sticking out and if you looked closely, you could see a patch of blond hair.

  
Opening the drawer, he looked at the baby and sighed. “You might be more trouble than you are worth.”


	2. Chapter 2

He was in a predicament. The small baby was on his bed, sprawled out in the middle, leaving almost no room for him to lay down. He actually could, really, but not without crushing the poor child. It was so small, so vulnerable. Its breath came out in soft, little puffs, its chubby face so serene. Ganon crawled onto the bed, trying to position himself around the baby. No, too close. He could roll in his sleep.

  
“ _Maybe if I…_ ” The man reached out, thinking that he could pick up the child and rest it on his chest. But he didn’t get near the baby before it started to squirm and whimper. Ganon immediately drew his hands back. “Shhh shh! No, don’t cry!” he whispered anxiously. While the baby did not make any more noise, it was obvious that it was not comfortable. Was it cold? The desert does get pretty chilly at night. “Blankets. I need blankets.” He took his comforter, his sheets, his cloak, anything he could find and wrapped the baby up as much as he could. It wasn’t until it was a pile of blankets with a little baby face poking out at the top.

  
That left only one problem. There was nothing for Ganon to sleep on.

  
“Well, the floor never hurts.” The Gerudo grabbed one of the pillows that he didn’t use for the baby and threw it on the floor. He positioned it right by his rug before laying on one side, then he grabbed the other side and pulled it over himself. Wasn’t much for a blanket, but hey, the child was happy, so he was happy.

 

* * *

 

“Sir? Sir, what are you doing?”

  
A sudden kick startled Ganon from his fitful sleep. For a moment he wondered himself why he was on the floor, but then he remembered about a little something sleeping on his bed. He bolted up, worried that the Gerudo that came to wake him had seen the baby. When he looked over to the spot where he put the child, all he saw was blankets. No baby.

  
He cleared his throat, getting the woman’s attention. “What I do is not really your business, so could you please step out. I’m not exactly in a presentable attire.”

  
That got the Gerudo’s face to turn red as a tomato. “O-oh, sorry sir. I’ll get out of your hair.” And with that, she all but bolted out of the hut.

  
She was gone. Panic enter stage left. “Nononononono! Where did you go come on don’t be dead!” He threw the pillows, the blankets, but still nothing. The pounding of a headache began and before he could catch himself, he smashed a vase nearby with his fist. A mixture of a snort and a growl left his throat as he grabbed fistfuls of his red hair, trying to contain himself.

  
Then he heard some cooing. A laugh. A tuft of blond hair poked up from the other side of the bed then up came the little blue eyes. Another laugh as little hands grabbed onto the sheets of his bed. The pounding stopped, his breath evened. He slowly walked up to the bed, carefully picking up the little baby and cradled it in his arms. A chuckle escaped his lips, his legs almost giving out on him.

  
Probably because he wasn’t really paying attention to it, the baby gabbed a hold of Ganon’s hair and pulled. Ganon had to suck in a yelp else he bring in half of the tribe to his hut.

  
“So, had a taste of the Hylian fruit?”

  
He knew that voice. Swallowing hard, Ganon turned around. “Nabooru.”

  
A Gerudo woman with long hair tied up in a high ponytail held up by a wire crown stood at the door. She had the same gem on her forehead as Ganon, symbolizing her position as the highest of the Gerudo women. Her hand rested on her hip, a smirk planted on her expression. “Where’d you get the babe?”

  
“W-what are you talking about I don’t see any baby?” Sweat lined his brow as he looked around, hoping to draw her attention away from the tiny person in his arms.

  
“I’m not an idiot, unlike you, Ganon.” She sauntered up to him, taking the child out of her prince’s hands. “With the way you wrapped up the poor thing, he could have suffocated.” Bouncing the baby, she raised her eyebrow at Ganon. “Who do you think took fed him this morning?”

  
Ganon blinked. “’Him’?”

  
“Oh, I changed his diapers too. You should really learn how to properly take care of a baby before you steal one.”

  
Ganon sputtered. “That was only one time when I was a kid! And I did not steal… him!”

  
Nabooru stood there waiting for an explanation.

  
“I… I found him in the desert, abandoned.”

  
The woman did not say anything, just stared at Ganon. He looked down and shuffled his feet, his heart beating nervously. That look told him that Nabooru knew there was more, but he was unwilling to tell, but he really didn’t have anything else… right?

  
Suddenly, Ganon burst out, pleading to Nabooru, “Please tell me that you haven’t told anyone.”

  
Nabooru sighed. “No, but he can’t stay, you know that. Hylians can’t survive in the desert, and with your temper…”

  
Ganon knew what she was hinting at. If she didn’t interrupt him earlier, he probably would have transformed, possibly killing the baby. And if it happened again… he didn’t even want to think of it.

  
“You’re right.” His shoulders went slack. Why was he so down about this? It was just a baby, an enemy at that. Even so, there were lots of others in the nursery, he could just help out there. Then he got an idea. A compromise. “But, we can’t just abandon the baby. He would die out there. Why don’t we find a good home for him?”

  
Nabooru knew he was up to something, but couldn’t see any problem with what he was saying. “Fine. But he can’t very well stay with the other girls in the nursery.”

  
Ganon could feel his excitement rise up. The baby was going to stay with him. He was finally going to have a s-

  
“He’ll just have to stay with me.”

  
His mouth could have hit the floor. “But… but-“

  
“No ‘but’s from you, mister. You have a kingdom to run. You have no time for a child.” She turned around and started to walk out. “And plus,” she continued over her shoulder, “you have no idea how to take care of a baby.”

  
“But…” Ganon reached out with his right hand, “have you at least thought up a name?”

  
Nabooru stopped, looked up, and groaned. “Ganon, you barely know the child and will not know him enough to name him. Go… I don’t know, name your helmaroc instead, if it is still alive, that is.” With that, she waved goodbye and left with the baby in tow.


End file.
